Mister Peejay:Newsflash: If a shop charges $30 for an oil change and spends a half hour at $100/hour labor rate plus $20 in materials costs, how much profit is there in an oil change?

On the other hand, changing the timing chains and guides at 60k because of lack of maintenance is very profitable.

/if we were interested solely in making money, we'd tell people to do nothing until it breaks

If you mean charge $30 for $15 in regular oil, or $65 for $30 synthetic, and then $35 in shop fees for 15 minutes of work while paying the techs $12/hr, then yeah, I think there is quite a bit of profit in oil changes.

Steve Mazor, manager of American Automobile Association's Research Center, said that more-frequent-than-necessary oil changes will not "gain any additional life for your engine or any improved fuel economy." He added, "In reality it will make little or no difference to the performance of the vehicle."

Sounds like you've bought into one of the logical fallacies discussed in the article...

The importance of oil changes to the life of your engine probably has something to do with the year it was made and the conditions you drive it under. I change my oil every 3K miles. I do it because the car is 23 years old and back in 1990, vehicles needed it changed that often. The fact that it is now 2013 doesn't make my car need oil changes less often. I also change it every 3K miles as that is twice a year. We have ~140 degree temperature difference between the coldest night in winter to the warmest day in summer. I have them put the thin winter oil in in the fall change and the thicker summer oil in in the spring change. Simply changing the oil may not extend the life, but having winter weight oil in means that at -40 (as it is today) that oil will get to the engine rather than sitting in the pan like peanut brittle, and THAT extends the life of your vehicle.

MrSteve007:StrangeQ: MrSteve007: I remember having to get oil changes, along with other periodic & regular maintenance, like coolant changes, transmission fluid, differential oil, etc . . . Then I bought an electric car:

Not sure if troll or just stupid. You realize you still have a transmission, right? And that that transmission still requires transmission fluid to function properly? Oh, and that nice fancy battery powering it? Yeah, have fun buying a new one of those when your current one fails. And differential oil? Please. There's a reason differential cases are sealed and don't have drain plugs: unless there is a mechanical failure like a gear breaking or a bearing going out, there is no need to ever open them. And if you think that electric vehicles are immune from mechanical failure, then you are a naive idiot.

Heh, you're calling me stupid? The Nissan Leaf doesn't have a transmission. It's direct drive electric with a single speed reduction gear. Link The service schedule is about 2 pages, 99% of which is simply reminders to rotate tires. Link

The battery warranty is for 5 years, and covers reduction of batt capacity. Even Nissan says you won't have to replace the entire battery, just failed modules in the battery. The cost? A couple hundred bucks. Link

On my 05 Toyota Tacoma, there's a front diff and rear diff (with electric diff lock), along with transfer case. Depending service duty, these require fluid changes every 30k or 45k miles. There certainly are drain plugs on them.[www.4x4wire.com image 640x480]/4runners and Tacoma's have the same drivetrain.

You're wrong about the transmission, you're wrong about the battery, and you're wrong about standard vehicle differentials. Actually, nothing you said was correct.

If you ever decide to change the differential fluid yourself, be sure to remove the fill plug first, before you remove the drain plug. That way if the fill plug is stuck or frozen, you can still drive it somewhere to fix it while you still have fluid in the differential.

StrangeQ:MrSteve007: I remember having to get oil changes, along with other periodic & regular maintenance, like coolant changes, transmission fluid, differential oil, etc . . . Then I bought an electric car:

Not sure if troll or just stupid. You realize you still have a transmission, right? And that that transmission still requires transmission fluid to function properly? Oh, and that nice fancy battery powering it? Yeah, have fun buying a new one of those when your current one fails. And differential oil? Please. There's a reason differential cases are sealed and don't have drain plugs: unless there is a mechanical failure like a gear breaking or a bearing going out, there is no need to ever open them. And if you think that electric vehicles are immune from mechanical failure, then you are a naive idiot.

Heh, you're calling me stupid? The Nissan Leaf doesn't have a transmission. It's direct drive electric with a single speed reduction gear. Link The service schedule is about 2 pages, 99% of which is simply reminders to rotate tires. Link

The battery warranty is for 5 years, and covers reduction of batt capacity. Even Nissan says you won't have to replace the entire battery, just failed modules in the battery. The cost? A couple hundred bucks. Link

On my 05 Toyota Tacoma, there's a front diff and rear diff (with electric diff lock), along with transfer case. Depending service duty, these require fluid changes every 30k or 45k miles. There certainly are drain plugs on them./4runners and Tacoma's have the same drivetrain.

You're wrong about the transmission, you're wrong about the battery, and you're wrong about standard vehicle differentials. Actually, nothing you said was correct.

I don't like how pushy they've become. I go into an auto shop for routine oil and they do the 21 point inspection....

"Hey, it looks like your air filter is a little clogged. It needs replacing.""No it doesn't. Just the oil please.""I see you're using the wrong type of anti-freeze for this type of radiator. Would you like us to....""Nothing wrong with the anti-freeze. Just the oil please.""Your transmission fluid is...""Transmission's fine.""Your washer fluid is low...""I'll fill it myself, thanks.""Tires look a little worn...""Just the oil, please."*smash* "Your tail light is out...""You just did that!"

mr_a:To be honest, I always though the purpose of changing oil was more to remove contaminants and metal shavings than because the oil lost lubricating ability.

For the record, I have always changed our vehicles at 5000. It may be overkill, but then again my last three vehicles have averaged over 230,000 miles before trade in. Given the cost of a new vehicle, sending an extra $1800 seems like a good bet to make for a payoff of an extra year or two on a vehicle.

The first part of your statement is absolutely correct.

I have a 1997 Grand Marquis with the puke first-gen 4.6L that I bought from my grandfather to use as a beater. He did 3,000mi oil changes all the way up to 103,000 when I bought it. Since then I've put an additional 230,000 on the odo. Car still runs like a top.

As an aside, put a magnetic drain plug in your oil pan if you have a cast rotating assembly. Even at 3000mi, you will be surprised what sticks to it

I go whenever the sticker on my windshield tells me to go. They also check and change all the other assorted engine fluids. Last time they replaced one of my taillights for me that I didn't realize was out, free of charge.

I've always change at 5K because it is easy to remember, - 10K, 15K, 20K, etc...

I used to always change my own oil but with the price of oil and the hassle of having to drive a sloshing container of oil to the recycling center, I found I am only saving about $20 from having the local Toyota dealer change it so I let them do it.